1)

This isn’t formal research, but I will include what I have been taught about emailing from my dad, and some choices I have found helpful with emails.

• Bullet points (this is my dad’s favorite). These are useful to get to the point of something without adding too much fluff or flowery wording. It is best to be efficient on both the sending and receiving side.

• I’ve found that after giving the information, having specific action steps with a timeline is helpful. I like a) the specific information, b) having action steps that are measurable and have a due date of sorts, and c) having the recipient’s name attached to the action step or portion that they should be working on.

• Having a consistent font/font color/font size is important and making sure if there is something that is bold/highlighted/in a different color it is just the very significant part that is changed, not a whole paragraph or more.

• Make sure to reply to only the people that it is relevant to and avoid hitting reply all because it is irritating for other people to have that unnecessary email.

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2)

SBAR!! Hospital style communication

•  SBAR stands for Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation.

• Something important about this to me is the section before SBAR even begins that looks at the things that the individuals can do independently before getting into calling a physician. This is helpful because it addresses what can be done to avoid writing an unnecessary email/call.

• The important thing about this format is that there is a specific order and the acronym makes it a checklist of sorts where it ensures that there is nothing left out.

• SBAR is organized in a logical way. It has a sort of introduction to what is going on, the history of what was happening, data and what the writer perceives to be the issue, and then a recommendation and/or question of what should happen.  

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3)

Penguin Writers’ Guides: How to Write Effective Emails, By R.L. Trask

• Make life easy for whoever is reading the email, don’t use slang/jokes, make it clear/concise/spend time on it to be taken seriously, sign it officially.